1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a medium processing apparatus for sorting and storing, by type, media entered into a main unit of an apparatus, and a bill processing apparatus incorporating the medium processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, a bill processing apparatus, which checks a plurality of bills entered in a main unit of an apparatus through an input slot for type (denomination) of each bill and stores the bills in a cartridge placed in the main unit of the apparatus, has been available. An example of such a bill processing apparatus is an automatic telling machine (ATM), an exchange machine, etc., used in financial institutions such as banks.
By the way, the bill processing apparatus in the related art comprises one cartridge placed in the main unit of the apparatus, wherein entered bills are stored in the cartridge regardless of their denomination. Therefore, bills of different denomination are mixed in the cartridge. Sorting bills taken out from the cartridge by denomination must be performed and this sort work takes time and labor; this is a problem.
What is needed is an apparatus wherein bills entered in a main unit of the apparatus, namely paid-in bills, can be used as bills to be paid out. This would allow storing as little cash as possible in the main unit of the apparatus for the reason of crime prevention.
Then, as an apparatus for solving the problem, an apparatus comprising a plurality of cartridges in a main unit for sorting and storing entered bills by denomination is proposed. The apparatus has the advantage that the main unit of the apparatus can be miniaturized by using the cartridges storing the bills to be paid out without providing a new cartridge for storing entered bills for each denomination.
However, bill processing apparatuses in the related art have a configuration wherein setting of the denomination of bills stored in each cartridge cannot easily be changed. Thus, when the operating environment of the main unit of the apparatus changes, for example when the type of bill to be handled changes, changing the denomination of bills stored in each cartridge takes time and labor; this is a problem.
To use paid-in bills also as bills to be paid out, unless the bills in the cartridge are neatly stacked on each other, carries with it a high probability of the occurrence of a jam when bills are paid out from the cartridge, and the reliability of the main unit of apparatus is degraded. Therefore, each cartridge must be formed to the size matching the denomination of bills stored in the cartridge. Thus, when the denomination of bills stored in the cartridge is changed, the cartridge must also be replaced with a cartridge of the size matching the new denomination. Changing the denomination of bills stored in the cartridge is very cumbersome, and the costs incurred from the changing (purchase cost of the new cartridge, etc.,) are high; this is a problem. Particularly, oversea bills such as dollar bills vary largely in size between denominations as compared with yen bills circulated in Japan.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a medium processing apparatus wherein the type of media to be stored in each of the cartridges placed in a main unit of an apparatus can be changed easily, and a bill processing apparatus incorporates the medium processing apparatus.
It is another object of the invention to provide a medium processing apparatus wherein costs of changing the type of media to be stored in each of the cartridges placed in a main unit of the apparatus are reduced, and a bill processing apparatus incorporates the medium processing apparatus.
To solve the problems, the medium processing apparatus of the invention comprises:
(1) A plurality of cartridges for storing media;
a storage section for storing size determination information to determine the size of the medium fitted for storage in each of the cartridges and medium size information indicating the size of the medium for each type of medium;
an output section for outputting the sort result of sorting into a medium type fitted for storage and a medium type not fitted for storage, using the size determination information and the medium size information for each of the cartridges;
an input section for entering the type of medium to be stored for each of the cartridges; and
a control section for setting the type of medium to be stored for each of the cartridges based on the entry in the input section.
In this configuration, the output section outputs the sort result of sorting into a medium type fitted for storage and a medium type not fitted for storage for each of the cartridges placed in the main unit of the apparatus. When the type of media to be stored for each of the cartridges is entered in the input section, the control section sets the type of media to be stored for each of the cartridges based on the entry.
Therefore, the type of media to be stored for each of the cartridges is simply entered in the input section, whereby the type of media to be stored in each of the cartridges can be set and can also be changed easily.
Since the sort result of sorting entered media into a medium type fitted for storage and a medium type not fitted for storage for each of the cartridges, the output can be used to easily select the media type fitted for storage for each of the cartridges.
(2) The output section has a display section for displaying the sort result.
In this configuration, the sort result is displayed on the output section.
(3) The input section has a touch panel placed on a display screen of the display section.
In this configuration, the type of media to be stored in each of the cartridges can be entered on the tough panel placed on the display screen of the display section, which displays the sort result. Therefore, the type of media to be stored in each of the cartridges can be entered while viewing the screen displaying the sort result.
(4) When a medium type not fitted for storage for any of the cartridges is entered in the input section, the control section functions to invalidate the entry.
In this configuration, when the entered medium type is not fitted to storage for any of the cartridges, the entry is invalidated. Thus, the medium type not fitted to storage for each of the cartridges is not set as a medium to be stored in a corresponding cartridge.
(5) The cartridge comprises guides, for regulating the storage area of media, such that the guides can be moved whenever necessary, and
the size determination information contains information indicating the positions of the guides in the cartridge.
In this configuration, if the positions of the guides placed in the cartridge are changed, the storage area for the media is changed, and thus the type of media fitted to storage in the cartridge can be changed. Therefore, unlike the apparatuses in the related art, the type of media fitted to storage can be changed simply by changing the positions of the guides without replacing the cartridge itself. Thus, a new cartridge need not be purchased and the cost required for the change over work is reduced.
(6) The input section has a function of entering the information indicating the positions of the guides.
In this configuration, the positions of the guides in each of the cartridges are entered from the input section as part of the size determination information.
(7) The medium processing apparatus further comprises a guide position detection section for detecting the positions of the guides.
In this configuration, the guide position detection section detects the positions of the guides of each of the cartridges. As such, the labor of entering the positions of the guides in each of the cartridges, as a part of the size determination information, can be saved, and occurrences of entry mistakes can be prevented.